Categories

All New People

Zach Braff

All New People

The dead of winter, Long Beach Island, New Jersey. Charlie, has hit rock bottom. Away from the rest of the world, this perfect escape is interrupted by a motley parade of misfits who show up and change his plans. A hired beauty, a fireman, and an eccentric British real estate agent desperately trying to stay in the country all suddenly find themselves tangled together in a beach house where the mood is anything but sunny.2.6 out of 5 based on 12 reviews

Omniscore:

Location

London

Venue

Duke of York's Theatre

Director

Peter Dubois

Cast

Paul Hilton, Susannah Fielding, Zach Braff, Eve Myles

From

February 2012

Until

April 2012

Box Office

020 7492 1561

The dead of winter, Long Beach Island, New Jersey. Charlie, has hit rock bottom. Away from the rest of the world, this perfect escape is interrupted by a motley parade of misfits who show up and change his plans. A hired beauty, a fireman, and an eccentric British real estate agent desperately trying to stay in the country all suddenly find themselves tangled together in a beach house where the mood is anything but sunny.

Reviews

The Scotsman

Joyce McMillan

“The language is strong, dirty, and very funny; the one-liners are sharp, the acting hard to fault. And the story combines a touch of upbeat sentimentality with an acute self-awareness, that is thought-provoking.”

The Daily Telegraph

Charles Spencer

“I suppose you could complain that the piece is a touch slick, the ending a little too neat and cosy, but this strikes me as a comedy that combines structural skill with genuine heart and I was hooked throughout.”

The Stage

Jeremy Austin

“All the characters have a tragedy they are trying to hide, and here is where the play falls slightly as either Braff or director Peter DuBois fail to appreciate the effectiveness of the writing. The characters’ backstories are told in short films, when in fact the strength of the actors’ performances and, indeed, the skilful teasing out of the plot actually renders them unnecessary. It’s as if Braff doesn’t quite believe he has the skill to tell the story through the stage alone. ”

The Observer

The Sunday Times

Christopher Hart

“The conclusion isn’t quite sticky-sweet, but it is predictable, offering the slightly sermonical message that all we’ve got is each other, so we had better try to be nice. That’s not necessarily wrong, of course, but anticlimactic after all the abrasive humour.
”

The Independent on Sunday

Kate Bassett

“The play has some good screwball exchanges and Myles, Hilton and Fielding give assured comic performances. But what a waste of their talents ... All New People is technically clunking, with redundant video flashbacks that look like a bid to save money on actors. As for the script, it would like to seem bold but is fundamentally hackneyed, veering between breast-groping, philosophical banalities and schmaltz.
”

The Daily Mail

Time Out

Andrzej Lukowski

“Dubois's direction fails to modulate or moderate the tone in any way, and although there are a couple of laughs to be had, there is next to no charm. It feels like a shrill, hysterically over-egged sitcom pilot: by the end I longed for Justin, the imaginary unicorn from Scrubs, to appear and restore some dignity to proceedings.”

The Evening Standard

Fiona Mountford

“Braff is Charlie, whom we first encounter standing on a chair with a spliff in his hand and a noose around his neck. If he knew the full kooky horror of the 90 minutes to come, he'd top himself instantly. But he doesn't, so he doesn't, which means we have to sit through this illogical nonsense.”

The Guardian

Michael Billington

“You could say that [Braff] generously allows the other actors to motor the action. But I notice that he also occupies a key upstage position for much of the evening. And when Emma finally says: "You know you really are cute, Charlie," I began to see the play for what it is: not merely a soggy reminder that we are all entitled to be unhappy but also an act of profound self-veneration.”

The Financial Times

Ian Shuttleworth

“It has been marketed with extreme lackadaisicality, as if on the assumption that critics and punters alike will jump through hoops to accommodate Braff. Some may do so. But as for going to see this production on its own merits . . . oh, you’re kidding!”

The Times

Libby Purves

“The silver lining is that, if it flops, it will prove that cynical box-ticking isn’t enough. You can’t (or shouldn’t be able to) succeed just by targeting the disposable income and free evenings of drifting trendy urban youth, keeping a play to 90 minutes, setting it in an aspirational beach-house full of modern art, using soapy video inserts and generally holding up a soft-focus mirror to every dead-end narcotic and sexual self-indulgence of the age.”